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Q and A: Storing homemade pasta, canning pickled eggs, and a day in the life of Jackie

I recently purchased a pasta machine at my local Goodwill Store. We tried it out this weekend and it made great spaghetti. Much tastier than the store bought stuff. The machine came with 3 versions of the dough: water with eggs, all eggs (we made this one), and water only. Then the question came up…What is the long-term storage time for pasta? Can dried pasta made with eggs be stored long term? (I have a dehydrator which would dry it faster if needed) Or, would it be best to use the water only version. If we get into this I intend to: vacuum pack it once it is dried. Store the vacuum packed pasta in the large metal popcorn tins or large glass jars to keep the bugs and mice out. The pasta would be stored in the pantry in the house where the temperature stays about 75 degrees

Tim and MartiSurprise, Arizona

Homemade pasta, correctly dried, will stay good for about 6 months in airtight storage. Commercial pasta often contains preservatives which make it last nearly forever. You can use the egg recipe, which is what I do. I find that my homemade pasta never lasts longer than a couple of months. Because we love it so much we eat it up sooner! Just dry it in your dehydrator so you are sure it quickly dries hard and brittle, then store it in airtight containers. If you have the ingredients around, which we always do, you can always quickly make another large batch to use fresh and replenish yours in the pantry. Your storage intentions will work out fine. — Jackie

Canning pickled eggs

I wanted to check with you about canning pickled eggs. Is this still considered safe, or are eggs too “thick”? I have your recipe. And to waterbath for 25 minutes?

Judith AlmandBrandon, Florida

Yes, pickled eggs can up fine because of the vinegar and because there’s lots of liquid in the jar all around the eggs. Can away! — Jackie

A day in the life of Jackie

I am sure you are chomping at the bit to get back outdoors and tackle all the many chores that are waiting for you. I hope that you are good as new within a short time and also free of pain. My question is for all of us older folks who are trying to live the good life on our land. How do you plan your day? What are your tasks that you do everyday and those you can put on hold? How do you prioritize and what does a day in the life of Jackie Clay look like?

I find that I am getting only about 20 percent of my list done each day and wonder if this is just me or if others find that they run out of steam also. My motto is to slow down and enjoy life, not to be constantly rushing, so that I can savor each moment. Life is like a flower in the field. The wind passes over it and it is gone. Then I look around and see so much that is left untouched, unfinished, etc. Does this sound familiar?

I am very excited about the August seminar and look forward to seeing you and Will again.

Deborah MotylinskiBrecksville, Ohio

You know, Deb, I’m working on an article on that very same subject! But briefly, what I’ve found out is that often our to-do lists are just too long for reality. Age related problems or not! Sometimes we have to downsize for either physical or financial needs. At one time, I milked 100 goats. Today we have 12 does and we let the babies nurse on most of these. I had 32 milk cows. Now we have one. The priorities are the definite “musts” each day: feeding and watering the animals, harvesting crops when ripe. The other things just have to fit in between. On nice days we work outside mostly, pecking away on things we want to get more done (we don’t always “finish” a project once started, but instead we have several in the works all the time so when our back (or knee!) starts screaming, we switch to a less physical chore. For instance, I’ll plant onions for half an hour then hoe for half an hour. Ouch! So I jump (well, okay, crawl…) on the riding lawnmower and mow the orchard or yard for half an hour, then rest and get back to something else that uses other muscles. (Like eating a buffet dinner!)

I, too, love to enjoy each day; that’s what homesteading is all about! But often we’re caught up in the hurry and “musts” of getting a homestead going that we overburden ourselves.

We’re also excited about the seminar and meeting many of our “old bunch” as well as newcomers whom we know will quickly become family! — Jackie

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Q and A: Storing homemade pasta, canning pickled eggs, and a day in the life of Jackie — 7 Comments

Sorry but you can’t “can” in Seal-A-Meals. I know that glass canning jars aren’t the handiest in a camping situation but food canned in them is safe and lasts for decades. You might consider dehydrating a bunch of food to use in place of MREs. You can do veggies, fruit, jerky and other meats making them lightweight and easy to re-hydrate.
Sure you can stop by. Just e-mail me through the magazine (jackie@backwoodshome.com) and I’ll e-mail you our phone number so we can make arrangements to be sure we’ll be home.

Good morning!! As I am not on the internet too often anymore, I miss a lot of good things from Jackie and crew… so when I do get a chance, I hurry onto “Ask Jackie” to check up on everyone :) I really hope you are feeling better!! How timely to find Deb’s post about To Do lists. I’ve been frustrated with my lists too, due to a combination of lack of funds (deer fencing?? Deck?? Gravel for the driveway?? (OK, I do know which of these is a priority)) and lack of time/energy (there are only so many rocks one can pick out of the garden each day!). But I am having fun on my little farm, and am REALLY looking forward to seeing everyone at the seminar in August. And every day, I look at the poster I made of a picture from last year’s Homesteading Seminar and ask “WWJD?” (Translation: What Would Jackie Do??) and that sets the tone for the coming day. I can hardly wait until August.

Cindy,
I’m glad to hear you’re making the adjustment of not having help around the homestead this year. I know it’s hard. We never get all we want to do in a day. In the summer we get longer days but we also lengthen our lists!!! You just need to take that list less seriously and when you finish one thing, congratulate yourself. When you don’t get all done, laugh and tell yourself your list was just too long.

The beavers have quit snickering and are back to business. When my knee gets a bit better, I’ll go have a chat with them and see what they say about this summer.

I too make ‘to do’ lists each morning that has enough chores on it to last a week! Am trying to be more realistic about that. What helps me out more than anything is to take that master list and break it down into mini lists. As in, anything that needs done outside, I make that mini list in an order that I can just make a round and get it all done. No back-tracking. Makes life much easier, no forgetting what I wanted to do, then remembering it later and have to go back out to finish up. For me it’s time to slow down. Am 58 and farmed all my life. It’s a hard job that is very rewarding. Am looking forward to a slower pace and doing some things I enjoy. The comment before says she does some of those things each day and maybe even FIRST!! Gonna give that a try. lol Bless all the readers out there as they make their way in this hectic world. As Abraham Lincoln said ‘it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years’. For me there’s nothing that compares to the country life.

Thank you Deborah and Jackie for addressing the issue of not finishing our to do lists. My husband has had a big change in his health this year so we are “missing” one person to do many things on our place. It is a HUGE adjustment. But I am learning that you can make the list but don’t expect it to get done in a day. It is there to guide me in what needs doing not to live by. Jackie, your book “Starting Over” is also an encouragement to me during this time of “adjustment”. My goal is to downsize and pick out what we really need to have on our homestead. Food is always first and firewood etc. Thank you again for your encouraging words. By the way, did those beavers ever stop laughing and finally appear in the world again after the long winter? They aren’t telling us heat and drought again like last summer I hope!! (chuckle)

My to do list is always way too long, but one thing I have learned is that some of my “must get dones” are self imposed and that I can choose not to do them. Another important thing I have learned about myself is that I am much happier in life if I do at least some of my “want to do” tasks even if they aren’t the most critical. Sometimes I even do them first, like eating dessert first.